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Serene Funeral Planning

Terms & Conditions

1. Definitions

“Accidental Death” is defined as a bodily injury that occurs due to accidental, violent, external, and observable factors. This injury must directly and exclusively lead to the individual’s death, without being influenced by any other cause. However, it’s important to note that “Accidental Death” excludes the following situations:

• Death caused by ingesting drugs, unless they were prescribed to the covered individual by a registered doctor in the United Kingdom and taken as prescribed; or

• Death resulting from self-inflicted injuries; or

• Deaths that are directly attributed to excessive alcohol consumption often referred to as “alcohol-related deaths” or “alcohol-induced deaths”; or

• Death as a result of participation in dangerous activities.

“Administration Fee” means the fee to set up and process your plan. The administration fee of £250.00 is included in the plan price.

“Agreement” means the agreement between you and us, entered into following receipt of the Funeral Plan Summary, important contact information, funeral plan specification and wishes, and these terms and conditions at the point of agreeing to purchase the funeral plan.

“Cooling Off Period” means the first 30 days after entering into the agreement with us where you can cancel your funeral plan at no cost.

“Covered Individual” means the person whose funeral will be provided for by the funeral plan.

“Customer” means the person entering into the funeral plan agreement and making payment for it. The Customer does not have to be the Covered Individual, however, you have an obligation to inform the Covered Individual if you purchase a funeral plan on their behalf. The Customer is the only person permitted to give instructions to make any changes to the funeral plan during its lifetime.

“Disbursements / Third party costs” means goods and services provided by a third party, not usually the funeral director, such as the fee for Cremation or an Officiant to oversee the service. These costs are not usually guaranteed, and it is your choice as to whether or not you wish to include an amount in the funeral plan to go towards these costs at the time of death of the Covered Individual.

“FCA” means the Financial Conduct Authority means the UK financial services regulator who have regulated the funeral plan market since 29th July 2022.

“Fixed Monthly Payments” means the agreed fixed monthly payments that you will pay to us each month by standing order until the funeral plan is fully paid when you elect to make payment by instalments. This excluded the administration fee which must be paid along with the initial payment.

“FSCS” means the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Details can be found at www.fscs.org.uk and in section 11 of this document.

“Funeral Directors Services” means the goods and services supplied by the funeral director themself which are guaranteed to be provided at the time of death of the Covered Individual at no additional cost.

“Funeral Plan Number” means the unique reference number assigned to your funeral plan by Serene once you have entered into the agreement with us.

“Funeral Plan / Plan” means the funeral plan you have chosen, as governed by this agreement. Serene Funeral Plans are provided by Serene Funeral Planning Limited as detailed at the start of this document.

“Funeral Plan Pack” means the pack sent to you within 5 working days of your welcome call. Your Funeral Plan Pack will include your funeral plan certificate, important contact information, funeral plan specification and wishes, funeral plan pricing information and these terms and conditions.

“Funeral Plan Summary” means the single page document provided before entering into the agreement which summarises what is and is not included in your funeral plan along with other important information about us.

“Funeral Specification” means the specific details of the services selected to be included in your funeral plan. The selected services will be included in your funeral plan pack.

“Funeral Wishes” means any personal wishes you have regarding how you would like your funeral to be conducted. The recorded details will be included in your funeral plan pack.

“Insurance Provider” means the Insurance Company selected by Serene who will receive the funds paid for the funeral plan, excluding the administration fee, and invest them securely in an individual whole of life insurance policy. This firm will be UK based and regulated by both the PRA and FCA.

“Moratorium Period” means the period of 24 months from the plan start date or period until the payment plan is fully paid, whichever is shorter, where the funeral director is not obliged to provide the funeral on the death of the Covered Individual and where the plan is being paid by monthly instalments.

“Next of Kin / Executor” means the person legally responsible for arranging the funeral of the covered individual at the time of their death as defined by the Administration of Estates Act 1925.

“Nominated Funeral Director” means the Funeral Director selected at the time of entering into the agreement to carry out the funeral at the time of death of the covered individual.

“Nominated Representative” means an individual named within your funeral plan who will be notified of the existence of the plan following the welcome call, and whose details will be retained in the funeral plan record to contact at the time of death of the covered individual.

“Non-advised sale” means we cannot give advice during the sales process, but will provide all the necessary information to you so that you can make an informed decision.

“Payment in Full” means payment in full by one single payment, at the time you enter into the funeral plan agreement.

“Payment Shortfall” means any payment(s) missed when paying by monthly instalments. (Please refer to section 7 Payment shortfalls)

“Payment Method” means the way in which you have chosen to pay for your plan.

“Plan Price” means the total price of your plan at the time of entering into the agreement with us when either paying in full or by monthly instalments.

“Plan Start Date” means the date that your plan commences. Your plan commences as soon as you return the signed agreement to us.

“PRA” means the Prudential Regulation Authority who regulate banks, building societies, credit unions, insurers, and major investment firms.

“12-Month Payment Plan” means the 12 monthly payments, paid to Serene, for a 12-month term. This is made up of 11 equal payments paid by monthly direct debit, and an initial payment of the balance of the plan and the administration fee, which can be paid by any payment option available.

“24-Month Payment Plan” means the 24 monthly payments, paid to Serene, for a 24-month term. This is made up of 23 equal payments paid by monthly direct debit, and an initial payment of the balance of the plan and the administration fee, which can be paid by any payment option available.

2. Plan Eligibility

2.1: To become a Customer of Serene and to purchase a Funeral Plan from Serene you must be a UK resident and be over the age of 18.

2.2: Funeral Plans are available to Covered Individuals who are aged 18 or over at the date of the application.

2.3: Funeral Plans can be purchased in a sole name, or by joint individuals to be used for either the first or second death of the two covered individuals.

2.4: Funeral Plans are assigned to a single named Covered Individual or two joint named Covered Individuals and cannot be transferred.

2.5: Funeral Plans cover the cost of a funeral provided it is conducted in the UK.

2.6: The plan does not cover the costs of repatriation.

2.7: There is no requirement to pass a medical

3. What your Plan Includes

3.1: Subject to these terms and conditions, your funeral plan pack will detail what is included in your selected Funeral Plan. Your selected Funeral Plan guarantees the funeral directors services and may also include an amount towards disbursements (third party costs).

3.2: If a funeral director is not nominated at the time of making the arrangements, we will appoint a funeral director prior to issuing the funeral plan pack to you, who will provide the funeral services described within your funeral plan at the time of death of the Covered Individual. If the nominated funeral director cannot for any reason perform your funeral, we will appoint an alternative nominated funeral director.

3.3: Your funeral plan guarantees to covers the funeral directors’ services specified in your funeral plan specification included within your funeral plan pack. If, at the time of death of the Covered Individual, any of the funeral directors’ services are not available, the funeral director will provide an alternative of at least equal quality and value at no further charge.

3.4: If, for any reason, we need to appoint a different nominated funeral director to the one included within your funeral plan pack, we will contact you to discuss this before making any change.

3.5: Your funeral plan may also include an amount towards disbursements (also known as third party costs);

• If you have elected to include a contribution towards disbursements within your funeral plan then the value paid into the plan towards these will grow in line with the rest of the plan value, and the initial amount, plus any growth, will be available to the Covered Individual’s representative to use towards these costs at the time of arranging the funeral.

• If you have elected to exclude a contribution towards disbursements within your funeral plan then all these costs will be payable by the representative of the Covered Individual at the time of the funeral.

• Certain Funeral Director partners may offer a funeral plan that guarantees the fee for cremation in their plans. Where included this will be detailed in your funeral plan specification.

3.6: Additional services may be added to your funeral plan at the time of death of the Covered Individual, but these

will not be covered by your funeral plan and any costs that arise will be payable to the funeral director at the time of need.

4. What your Plan Does Not Include

4.1: Unless specifically stated in your funeral plan specification, your funeral plan does not include;

• the cost for other services, such as a newspaper obituary, flowers, orders of service, a headstone or a wake.

• additional charges made by the crematorium for supplementary services such as live streaming, music, or visual tributes.

• the purchase of a burial plot or memorial headstone.

• Collecting the Covered Individual from a location further than the distance specified in your plan specification from your nominated funeral director’s premises. (Costs associated with air and ferry travel are also excluded).

• bringing the Covered Individual back to an airport or port in the UK if the death happened abroad.

• vehicle costs if the location of the funeral service or committal is not local to the nominated funeral director’s premises.

• additional time if the funeral service is significantly longer than the average service or allocated time.

• a funeral service at any time other than during normal working days.

5. Payment Options

5.1: The initial payment and administration fee can be paid by any of the following methods:

• Card payment via the Serene portal

• BACS transfer into the Serene client account

• Cheque made payable to Serene Funeral Planning Limited

• Cash, but only when delivered in person to an office of Serene during normal working hours.

5.2: The initial payment is due within five working days of entering into the agreement with us. The welcome call will not be made, nor the funeral plan pack sent, until the initial payment is received.

5.3: Monthly payments for instalment plans must be paid by Direct Debit into the Serene client account on the same day each month as stated in the agreement.

There are three payment options available to you to pay for your funeral plan.

Option 1: Payment in Full

5.4: A one-off payment can be made to purchase your plan and the money paid to us, excluding the £250.00 administration fee, will be used to purchase an individual whole of life insurance policy with a life insurance company who are regulated by the FCA and the PRA.

5.5: If you wish to cancel during the first 30 days from the date of signing the agreement, we will refund all monies paid including our £250.00 administration fee.

5.6: If you wish to cancel after 30 days from the date of signing the agreement, we will refund all monies paid excluding our £250.00 administration fee.

5.7: Serene Funeral Plans are provided by Serene Funeral Planning Limited.

Option 2: 12-month Instalment payment option

5.8: Payments for this plan will be taken over 12 months. The initial payment can be made by any means selected from the options in 5.1 above and will be made up of the remained of the plan value excluding the administration fee, after deduction of 11 equal payments, plus the £250.00 administration fee. The remaining 11 payments will be of an equal amount and will be made by monthly direct debit into the Serene Client Account.

5.9: On receipt of the initial payment, we will purchase an individual whole of life insurance policy with a life insurance company who are regulated by the FCA and the PRA.

5.10: The monthly payment for your funeral plan will be dependent upon its total cost.

5.11: As the Customer of Serene, you are responsible for making payments in accordance with the signed agreement and these terms and conditions.

5.12: If you are purchasing the plan on behalf of someone else, you must ensure that that person knows you are buying a plan on their behalf. All the plan correspondence will be sent to your address.

5.13: If you do not maintain monthly payments, then the plan may be cancelled. you will receive a refund of all payments made including the £250.00 administration fee. (Please refer to section 7 – Payment Shortfalls)

5.14: If the Covered Individual dies within the first 12 month of the funeral plan start date all monies paid will be refunded including the £250.00 administration fee.

5.15: If the Covered Individual dies from an “Accidental death” within the first 12 months of the funeral plan start date you will receive

the full plan benefits without being required to make any additional payments. (Please refer to Accidental Death description within the ‘Definitions’ section of these terms and conditions).

Option 3: 24-month Instalment payment option

5.16: Payments for this plan will be taken over 24 months. The initial payment can be made by any means selected from the options in 5.1 above and will be made up of the remained of the plan value excluding the administration fee, after deduction of 23 equal payments, plus the £250.00 administration fee. The remaining 23 payments will be of an equal amount and will be made by monthly direct debit into the Serene Client Account.

5.17: On receipt of the initial payment, we will purchase an individual whole of life insurance policy with a life insurance company who are regulated by the FCA and PRA.

5.18: The monthly payment for your funeral plan will be dependent upon its total cost.

5.19: As the Customer of Serene, you are responsible for making payments in accordance with the signed agreement and these terms and conditions.

5.20: If you are purchasing the plan on behalf of someone else, you must ensure that that person knows you are buying a plan on their behalf. All the plan correspondence will be sent to your address.

5.21: If you do not maintain monthly payments, then the plan may be cancelled. In this situation you will receive a refund of all payments made including the £250.00 administration fee. (Please refer to section 7 Payment Shortfalls)

5.22: If the Covered Individual dies within the first 24 month of the funeral plan start date all monies paid will be refunded including the £250.00 administration fee.

5.23: If the Covered Individual dies from an “Accidental death” within the first 24 months of the funeral plan start date you will receive

the full plan benefits without being required to make any additional payments. (Please refer to Accidental Death description within ‘Definitions’ section of these terms and conditions).

6. Claims on Death

6.1: On the death of the Covered Individual, their representative should contact the nominated funeral director as detailed in the Funeral Plan Pack. The funeral director will make contact with us to check that the plan is still current and grant permission to progress with the arrangements.

6.2: We will notify the Insurer and the proceeds of the whole of life insurance policy will be paid directly to our segregated client bank account. On receipt of the necessary documentation we will pay the nominated funeral director for the services contained within the plan in accordance with our agreement with them.

6.3: In the case of joint plans we will only pay out once. The funeral plan specification will show if the funeral plan is to be used for the first or second death of the two Covered Individuals and once redeemed for one of their deaths the plan will cease.

7. Payment Shortfalls

7.1: If you have chosen to pay for your plan by monthly instalments and you miss a payment, the payment processing system will automatically try to take the payment again five days later. If this is unsuccessful we will contact you five working days after the date of the missed instalment to make the payment.

7.2: If you do not make the missed payment within the agreed timescale or if you go on to miss a second consecutive payment, we will again contact you after five working days to give you the opportunity to make the payments. If the payments are not made within 10 working days your

plan may be cancelled by us unless a suitable short-term reason is given and a bespoke payment plan or arrangement agreed.

7.3: If your plan is cancelled all monies paid will be refunded including the £250.00 administration fee, in accordance with the cancellation terms in section 8 of these terms and conditions.

7.4: If your plan is cancelled you will not be able to restart it but will have to purchase a new plan at the prices available at that time.

7.5: If the Covered Individual dies and there is a payment shortfall on the account, this shortfall will need to be paid in full by the Customer or a representative of the Covered Individual to allow the funeral plan to be activated and the funeral to take place.

8. Cancelling your Plan

8.1: You have the right to cancel your plan at any time;

• If you have chosen to pay for your funeral plan in full and you decide to cancel within the 30-day Cooling Off Period, the plan value will be refunded to you including the £250.00 administration fee.

• If you have chosen to pay for your funeral plan in full and you decide to cancel after the 30-day Cooling Off Period, the plan value will be refunded to you less the £250.00 administration fee.

• If you have chosen to pay for your funeral plan by monthly instalments and you decide to cancel at any time before the funeral plan is fully paid or the moratorium period ends, whichever is soonest, any monies paid will be refunded to you including the £250.00 administration fee.

• If you have chosen to pay for your funeral plan by monthly instalments and you decide to cancel once the funeral plan is fully paid or the moratorium period comes to an end, whichever is soonest, any monies paid will be refunded to you, less the administration fee of £250.00.

8.2: If you are paying by monthly instalments and you do not maintain your payments, we have the right to cancel your funeral plan. Once your plan is cancelled, we will have no further obligation to fulfil your plan. If your plan is cancelled all monies paid will be refunded to the plan purchaser including administration fee of £250.00. See section 7 – Payment shortfalls.

8.3: Your funeral plan cannot be cancelled after your death unless this is agreed with Serene.

8.4: If the person responsible for making the funeral arrangements for the Covered Individual wishes the funeral to be carried out by someone other than the nominated funeral director at the time of need, unless otherwise agreed with Serene, the plan will be cancelled and only the monies paid will be refunded, less the administration fee of £250.00.

8.5: All refunds made by us will be paid to the person who made the original payment, using the original payment method wherever practical.

8.6: You can cancel your funeral plan by sending a cancellation request through the customer portal or by writing to us on the details at the end of this document. If cancelling in writing, we recommend that you obtain proof of postage.

8.7: You do not have to provide any reason for cancelling but you can do so if you wish. All your statutory rights are unaffected.

9. Making Changes

9.1: If you, the Covered Individual or any other person detailed in the plan changes their address or contact details, you must notify us. If a change of funeral director is required this may incur additional costs, but these costs will be explained to you before any change is confirmed.

9.2: Alterations can be made to the funeral specification once the funeral plan is fully paid. These will generally only be accepted in writing from you as the Customer. A written instruction includes by e-mail or through the customer portal. If you are unable to provide a written instruction, for example as a result of a limitation or health condition, you can contact us by telephone on 0330 175 9957. There is no charge for making changes, however amendments may result in additional costs being payable or a refund being due. This will be discussed with you before any change is processed.

9.3: Once the agreement is signed we confirm that we will not make any changes to the cost of your funeral plan except in the following circumstances;

• Where you instruct us to make changes to the specifications of the plan.

• Where material changes are introduced such as taxation, law or regulation.

10. Complaints

10.1: We aim to provide excellent customer service, however if you wish to lodge a complaint you can telephone, email, or write to us, or complete the form within your customer portal. All complaints are taken seriously. Our complaints team can be contacted at:

Telephone: 0330 175 9957

Email: complaints@serenefp.co.uk

Address: Serene Funeral Planning, Customer Resolution Team, Robin Hood House, Robin Hood Street, Nottingham NG3 1GF

10.2: On receipt of a complaint, we will acknolwedge it and issue you with a unique complaints reference number. We will then investigate your complaint and aim to resolve it within three working days. Whether or not it is concluded we will contact you again by five working days to either provide an outcome or explain the reason for the delay. All complaints will be fully investigated and responded to within 20 working days of being received. Should you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to independently review your case.

11. FSCS - Financial Services Compensation Scheme

11.1: In the unlikely event that we cease trading, there is a high probability that your funeral plan contract will continue to be carried out by another firm, who is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). By signing our agreement you consent to your funeral plan being transferred to another funeral plan provider in this scenario.

11.2: Your funeral plan is further protected by the FSCS up to the relevant compensation limits for funeral plans at that time. Further information can be found by contacting them:

Telephone: 0800 678 1100

Website: www.fscs.org.uk

12. Contacting Us

Telephone: 0330 175 9957

Email: info@serenefp.co.uk

Address: Serene Funeral Planning, Robin Hood House, Robin Hood Street, Nottingham NG3 1GF

Digitally: Through the customer portal

serene funeral planning logo without text

Any Questions?

Call us on 0330 175 9957

Opening Hours

Monday – Friday 9am-5pm Thursday late opening until 7pm Saturday 10am-1pm

Serene Funeral Planning Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as a Funeral Plan Provider. Registration Number: FRN 975199

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